My father answers on the first ring. “Ophelia?”
“Yes, Dad. It’s me.”
There’s no warmth in my voice, and that’s deliberate. I turn my back a little as a way of creating an illusion of privacy.
“Ophelia,” he says. “I don’t want to be the one to tell you this, but I’ve had some information.”
“What’s wrong?”
“The facility where I sent you hasn’t forgotten what happened.”
My blood runs cold. “What do you mean?”
“I’m talking about your friend—and what he did. Those at the top of the chain haven’t simply let bygones be bygones. Plans are being put in place. They’ve been poking around, trying to learn where to find him.”
This is the last thing we need, and I wonder if my father has anything to do with it. “And… did you tell them?”
There’s a long pause. “Ophelia, I know I’ve made many mistakes, but trust me, I don’t want to lose you, or hurt your mother, so no, I haven’t told them anything.”
“Do you know the identity of whoever is behind the facility?” I press.
“No, I don’t, or I promise I would give you a name.”
I appreciate that my dad called to tell me, even if he has no real power to protect Roman. Maybe this is his way of making it up to me—making it up to Roman. It helps, but it doesn’t take away what he did. Roman could have died.
“You need to tell your friend,” my dad says. “Warn him. He needs to keep his eyes open—watch his back. You too. Maybe you’d be safer at home.”
“No.” My answer is immediate and out of my mouth without me even thinking about it. “My place is with them, Dad.”
“I understand. Just… Please, all of you, be careful. I’ve already told Nataniele some of this, and I’ll ask him to make sure that security is alerted, too, but it sounds like some of the people after your friend have a lot of power.”
My mind is racing. “Okay. Can you tell me anything else? Where are we likely to find the people in charge.”
“The facility is your best bet. Otherwise, I don’t know.” He pauses and then adds, “I’m sorry, Ophelia. Sorry that I wasn’t a better father to you. Sorry I wasn’t a stronger man.”
Tears fill my eyes. “Thank you,” I whisper.
He ends the call before I can say goodbye, and for a moment I simply stare at the receiver before handing the phone back to the dean.
My dad doesn’t know Cain’s father was the person responsible for my kidnapping as a child, and we will keep it that way. No good will come of the secret getting out. It’ll only give people a reason to suspect the truth behind Cain’s father’s death and give my dad a reason to hate Cain.
“Are you okay, Ophelia?” the dean asks, raising one salt and pepper flecked eyebrow.
“Yes, fine,” I squeak, not able to talk about this right now.
Not knowing what else to say, I rush out of the room and race down the corridor, my heart pounding. My father will speak to the dean anyway and make sure the college is on extra high alert, but still, it’s yet one more threat aimed at us. At Roman.
Pure terror propels me forward as I run, not even sure where, just needing to get out of the suddenly too-narrow walls surrounding me.
I can’t do this again.
I just can’t.
We’d finally found some kind of stability, and now here’s another threat.
Will it ever end? I know, in some ways, it won’t. After all, Roman, Cain, Malachi, and their families—and mine—live on borrowed time. They deal with dangerous men every day, psychopaths with big egos, big wallets, and even bigger gun arsenals.
And yet, I’d managed to convince myself we might be okay, at least for a while. Tears stream down my face. As the fog of utter panic clears, I focus on one thing, and one thing only. I need to find Roman. I know there’s no immediate danger, no one is getting on the grounds that easily in broad daylight, but we need a plan because we can’t stay hiding here forever.
